So. I got home yesterday afternoon, I asked for the day off today. I didn't even hear back about it - I texted my manager - until I found it she had been in an accident.  Everyone is fine, thank God, hydroplaning incident that set her pickup off the road and into a tree.

Off course here: Note to oneself: need ottoman or other such thing to kick feet up on when lounging in front of desktop.  I'm not at an office, I don't need or want to be sitting alert and upright.  This is kickback time. I got this new computer chair and it's very nice,, but my feet are still sitting on the floor. Correction to this problem coming soon : )

I didn't let loose on my manager today, but I did relieve myself a bit. She's really too nice a person to let off steam on too much, I would rather go to her manager if it ever came to that.  She's really cool, trust me, nice lady.  But, she has a job to perform and that means sending us out on endless runs.  Nice and fine,, but I have to have home time. I've been out on 4 back to back runs.  My roomies informed me of that today.  That means, come back, spend a part of a day here and night and then back out the next morning.  That's not home time, that's just coming home to sleep.  Last weekend, I was home a total of 9 hours after being out 9 days. Before that, similar and before that, similar.  \

I asked her for tomorrow off, too.  This is what happens when you bust ass and just do whatever they want you to do. Experienced this all my life.  They want to run you hard.  Endless. Unless you stand up for yourself, they will continue to do so.  Sometimes it's because the don't give a s***  about you, other times it's because they are dumped with more on their plate than they can realistically handle.  She is dictated to by corporate. I understand where she's coming from, but at the same time, I have to have a life outside of a truck.  I make my case, civilly and politely, but I never-the-less make that case.

I'm 54 years old. I still have a lot of stamina, but I see it's not as good as it used to be.  I can still drive all day, but I'm awfully tired that night.  And after a really brutal day, I have a hard time getting up the next morning.  14 hours.  That's a long time being on duty.  It happens 70% of the time, I'm guessing. More often than not, I'll definitively state.

My statement to her in texting was that I have been running for weeks now, I need more off time than this.  These 2 other new guys? Getting a lot more off time than me, I know this from having conversations with them. Not about off time, but they bring it up and I wonder how they get away with it, considering the schedule I've been dealing with.  Okay, I know: whine and complain. It's whatever, I don't like doing that with management. I've put up with a lot of bs in my lifetime, at least in this case it's putting up with bs from a nice person.  Nice, but firm, when it comes time to get the deliveries done, lol.

She left it on hold. If someone shows up by tomorrow morning, I can let you have another day off.  I just want a couple of days off in a row, not one day here and there.  Most other drivers are getting that.  Some get much more than that.  Anyway, I''m bracing myself for a run tomorrow, I"m guessing I'll get dumped with it. It's to El Dorado, I think it's 3 hours or so away, can be a one day run if the loading plant and the unloading plant get it done efficiently. A day plus a ten hour break somewhere on the road, close to home but out of reach because of HOS hours if not plus whatever drive time left.  Probably less than 50 miles.\
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Welp, got called to go out. That was yesterday.  Of course it took over 6 hours for them to unload the truck.  No clue why it takes them so long.  It shouldn't take more than 2 to 2-1/2 hours at most.  They make you unhook the tractor and drive off site while they are doing it. So, I drove the 10 miles to the nearest town with a restaurant. Went into a burger joint, this place had all kinds of seafood, including fresh trout.  Uhh, yes, I'll have the trout please.  Haven't had trout in ages, it was very tasty and reasonably priced. Decided to get a cup of gumbo to go for later on.

On the drive back, my manager calls. We desperately need that trailer for tomorrow morning, are you going to be able to get it back tonight? I dunno, depends on when they are finished. Well, can you start your 10 hour break and get up early?  Didn't really like the question, I know when I get up that early, the day is fairly well ruined for me.  I just drag butt all day long because I am tired.  But, I agreed to do it. So, I got up at 3 am, drove straight back, got home, went back to bed.  I feel a little better after sleeping for 2 more hours but I know my body and mind and how it works.  I likely won't do anything today.  Unless a wave of "fresh" hits me and some energy comes rolling in.

Tomorrow will mark the 4th Sunday in a row that I have had to get up, go to work, get a truck and roll into the plant.  I didn't get my two straight days off.  I'm going to let that go and pretty much tell her that I have to have 3 days off for the move coming up at the beginning of April.  I'm not moving but I am obviously going to help move one household out and another back in.  We'll see how that turns out, but the request is going in Monday, Very well far in advance. 

Anyway, another trip to Illinois.  A different plant, but not that far away from the one I was at this week. 

I gotta say here, I don't foresee myself doing this job forever.  Maybe a couple of years, get my tanker experience with hazmat in and then find something local.  My company has local gigs, if I keep my nose clean and encounter no major self-caused problems, I should be able to transfer.  I don't mind going out for two days, but anything longer than that I just don't like it.  This next trip is 3 days minimum. The pay is awesome, that's the only thing that's kept me up until now. 

But this lie about new trucks doesn't go away. And now, my manager, who is trying really hard to keep all of us but is powerless about new trucks - she doesn't make those decisions - said there is a Mack truck in a shop somewhere, getting fixed that they are bringing up. She wants me to get in it and see if it's something I'd rather be in than this pile of junk I am currently driving. It's not new. I'm not holding my breath, but maybe it will be better than this thing.  When asked about new trucks, she deflected off that to the Mack truck. Obviously, there aren't going to be any new trucks.  This isn't the first time a trucking company has lied about new trucks - but those companies I'm not working for, either. 

I really just want a daycab, local job, home every night or day, probably home during the day and out at night since when you first start you get the night shift. 

I dunno.  Maybe over time these ridiculous time slots I'm being put in and days will be mitigated.  Like, new drivers get the crap that no one else wants.  She gives us the runs to make the money - along with the runs that don't make hardly anything such as this run I just got done doing, but she does that to everyone. The runs, that is, not the time slots and days you have to go out.  Some drivers don't care, I get that.  They live on the road, they don't have a home here near where the plant is.  But that's their choice, I don't live my life under the scope of what other people decide to do with theirs.  For now, I will eat this and get these big paychecks and force myself to be happy with it. 

And, if I stick around awhile, I will give serious thought to getting my own truck and leasing it out to the company.  There are a couple of guys doing it, one of which is very happy with the setup -  but he darn near lives in that truck.  I mean, he almost never goes home.  It works well for him because he has ladies all over the place plus his - wife at home. Note I didn't say I condone such things, that's just what he does.  He find ladies everywhere he goes.  Another driver that was stuck down in Brownsville - who claims to be a preacher - also talked long and loud about his lady liasons he has all over the place, including 2 of them he found down there. 

He is also married.  I don't get that.  I can't really get into that perspective because when I was married, I didn't even think about other women.  It's a commitment that you make to her to love her and stay monogamous.  That 6th sense that women have about such things, I don't wonder if they suspect or even know their men are out there doing such things.

Anyway, I've pretty much wasted the morning.  I am trying to get the motivation up to get over to Lowe's and see about getting a new vanity for the bedroom I will be moving into. The sink in that bathroom is absolutely disgusting.  And also some grass seed for the back yard.  I wish I would have thought of that last week, I could have thrown a big bag of that seed out and by now, it would have started up. It's been raining constantly all the way up until today. 

Looking at the forecast, tho, I could still do it.  It's going to be raining on and off this coming week, which is enough to keep grass seed wet enough to sprout.  That alone may motivate me to spend at least an hour out of here. But the rest of the day? Forget about it.  I'm toast. 

Finally Home

After 4 days, I'm finally home from this trip.
A lot of thoughts going through my head.
About this job, that is.  Politics and current news is another big thing that I focus on.

I was talking with the lady that also went up to Pennsylvania a while back, she was wondering why I don't just get my own truck and lease it out to them?  I have never owned my own truck.  I have heard good and bad about it.  I will think about it for a while, check into it, look at info on the trucker's boards about it and make a decision.

Meanwhile, my company actually pays for breakdown pay.  That's $22 per hour for every hour from the time the truck breaks down until the time you get in it to drive it again.  I didn't know that until yesterday.  That sheds a bit different light on all of these breakdowns.  But I can tell ya, being stuck on the side of the road isn't fun, at all.  And driving a truck that you don't know when it might break down again? Pretty much sucks. I drove that thing all the way back yesterday and today wondering if the thing was going to give up the ghost yet again.

I had given a little thought to owning my own truck after spending an afternoon stuck with another driver from the company at a plant who was in his own truck.  He makes a lot of money - but he's out on the road a lot more than I want to be. But, I have been out on the road as much as anyone there in the last several weeks.  Well, nothing I'm going to jump on.  I'll take my time and look into it.

There are a couple of pressing things, at least for me, tho that I need to deal with.  I can't be eating this road food all the time. It's just ballooning me.  You see fat truck drivers? It's cause they don't get exercise and they are eating the food you get at truckstops. Think Arby's, Wendy's, Carl's Junior, McDonald's, etc.  Subway is the only "good" thing out there.

I can load a refrigerator up with healthier food. Yogurt, zero percent fat milk, lunch meats and bread.  Left overs if I figure out a way to shove a microwave in that truck.  Or even eating cold leftovers never really bothered me.  Especially when it's right there. I dread the instances where I have to choose food from a truckstop. I opt for these bread and meat and cheese pre made sandwiches. At least they aren't laden with fat and grease.  But, yeah, I need a refrigerator in there and since I can't put the kind I want in there, I'm going to have to buy the cooler type.

You know, an ice chest you take on camping trips? Except these have a refrigeration unit. I've been looking at them.  The better ones are kinda pricey, but they keep the food colder and they are iceless.  I'm still on the fence about all of this, but I need to make changes for my health's sake pretty quick. I'd also like a truck version of a coffee maker.  Tho I really don't mind paying for coffee at a truckstop, it's hit and miss. Some places have excellent coffee, some places have really disgusting coffee that is gross. Some places don't change out the coffee if it gets old and even if it was good when it was first made, it turned disgusting over time.

But see, this truck. It keeps breaking down.  Are they going to see the reality of this situation and get me a decent running truck? Or keep me stuck in this thing.  Cause this is kind of a custom deal, you buy stuff that is specific for the truck you want it in.

_________

Okay. I just talked to the only lady driver in our division. Apparently our manager got into a car accident today. It's been raining for days now.  Her pickup hydroplaned, the rear end of it lost traction, spun around, slid of the road and slammed into a tree, replete with kids present in the vehicle.  Luckily, no one was hurt. 

Whatever the case, I'm tired, a bit burnt out, and I have a lot I want to try and get done tomorrow.  Time for sleep on my brand new bed : )

I feel better if nothing else. Went over to Applebee's - walking the pouring rain, I was soaked by the time I got there - and had some dinner.  No particular rush, I figured the shop will call in it's own due time and I am quite certain the plant won't be calling before tomorrow.  Not this late in the day.  I don't really care if they keep me here for a week. $22 x 24 hour a day x however many days. Well, it would be how many hours total but you get the message.
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Okay, that was yesterday - Monday.  Now. we're at Tuesday. I've been out on the road, a lot.  I'd really like to start heading home.  And really like to have at least a full day at home before going back out again.  Actually, I could sit here a few more days and get paid for it, that's not a problem. I just want a day at home, at least, when I get back.  Something tells me that's not going to happen. 

Meanwhile, the wait goes on.  The truck isn't fixed - yet tho according to them it should be no later than the end of the morning.  I need that truck to be here and waiting in the parking lot so that when they call me to go unload that trailer, I can boogie right out the door, fire that thing up and head straight over there.  That is, if that even occurs today.  Kind of thing up in the air here.  But even if they called in the next hour I would still probably wait.  Check out time here is 11:00 am and I really don't think, from what they told me at the plant yesterday, that they are going to be ready to do anything this morning.  I might as well enjoy the hotel room as long as I can.

Just trying to make some plans for today. Cause after 11, go get the truck if it's ready, then I can head over to Walmart and buy some cleaning supplies.  Really need to scrub this thing out.  They are hell bent on me staying in it, its going to look and smell clean inside at the very least. 

Well, that changed quickly.  Just got a call from the plant, come in about an hour to 2 hours from now, the man calibrating the tank wants to do it while the truck is being unloaded.  That changes my whole day, even my entire perspective on the day.   Now, I need to call the shop.  They had the part, they just needed to install it. 

Wringing my hands. Ok.  They are going to be done with the truck by 10 am, they hope. I have to be out of this hotel by 11 am anyway, so I figure to get an Uber ride back to the shop and hope they are just about done by the time I get there, leave here around 9:30 am.  Maybe a little earlier, actually.  I don't want to start the clock too early.  The Hours of Service clock, that is.  The more I have available after I get out of that plant, the more I will have to get a good chunk of driving to get home out of the way today. 

Well that's that.  Maybe, lol.  Nothing is ever set in stone around here until it actually happens. The truck might not be done, the plant may change it's mind, who knows. 

Anyway, I need to get my stuff ready to go. 

Well that was fun. Got up early, go up here to near Chicago, got into the plant, the plant operator walks up and says:  Well, go get a hotel.  Huh? Why?  My mind was filled with "get this thing unloaded, get as many miles back as I can get in with available that's left".  Not, gee, I think I'll sit up here for 2 or 3 days doing nothing.  Well, grin and eat it. I dropped the trailer there - they said they would monitor the pressure on it - started to drive out of the plant and the transmission on the truck started failing.

Yup, third break down in this same truck.  I sat there for a while trying to figure if I was doing something wrong, but after watching a few youtube videos on this particular transmission, I came to the conclusion that I was doing everything perfectly, as I had been since before I got up here.  I finally called my manager, after fooling with it for a while.  I was able to get it to go into manual mode, but only up to 5th gear.  And reverse. So, this dude calls me from wherever from within the company, trying turning the battery switch off for 15 and see what happens.

Tried, no go.  He said he would call a tow truck but had to go pick up another guy with broke down truck somewhere. Uhh, ok.  Off the phone, I tried turn the thing off again and leaving it like that for 30 minutes.  Back on, no go. Tried running it in reverse and forward in the manual mode but nothing. I would go above 5th gear and it wouldn't manually switch gears while it was moving.  So I parked the freaking thing.  Had it in neutral and the parking brake on.  Sitting there playing on the phone, the damned thing went into gear on it's own, in neutral and the whole truck started tilting sideways.  A foul odor came up into the truck, I turned the truck off.  Turned it back on, and then off again, etc. 

Then, magically, after an hour of this, the thing started working normally again. So, I called this dude back up, told him the stupid thing went into gear on it's own.  I end up taking the thing to a shop, A Volvo dealer who didn't want to look at it because they are booked up til Thursday. This guy tells them our company has a contract and they have to at least do a check on it. 

So, the trailer is sitting at a plant until sometime tomorrow - at the earliest they said, there was no guarantee they would even be able to unload it tomorrow - and the truck is sitting at the shop for unknown length of time and unknown issue.  Electrical, sensors, the shifter? No clue. 

My manager got me a hotel room at Holiday Inn.  I drove that truck to the shop, took an uber over here and playing the waiting game now.  Though, I admittedly got into bed and got a long nap.  I'm worn out.  This job is really pushing me to the limits.  Long hours, long days.  The first load - the earliest load of the day - is killer. That forces me to get up at 3:15 to 3:30 am, depending on whether I want to put on coffee or just blow it off and get coffee on the road and be at the plant by 5 am.  The rest of the day after that is a fight to stay awake.

Trucks breaking down like this, though? Really just drains me.  I just hate it.  There is nothing like about a broken down truck except the fact that I am getting break down pay and I am at a hotel for free, and, I am getting paid separately an hourly wage for about 30 hours (minimum) to wait for them to get the plant up and operating again so they can take the delivery.  That literally could be days.  I mean, it could be tomorrow, but I've seen these plants shut down for a week and longer.  I have no idea what my company would do then.  The contract forces the customer to pay for detention pay if the wait is their fault, which in this case, it definitely is.

Well the plant isn't broken down, they just decided that they needed to recalibrate a half million gallon tank that the stuff in my truck goes into.  They have to empty that entire tank and then what they do after that I have no idea.  Apparently it's emptying the tank that is time consuming.  A process I literally know nothing about, I just asked the plant operator a few questions about it, simply because I like to find out about things lol, not because I need to know.

Geeze that nap made me even worse off. I'm sooo tired.  It's a bad idea to take another nap this time of day. I'll just force myself to stay awake until around 9 pm and then I'll crash for the night.  Several decent restaurants within walking distance. 

Well, anyway, that's my current dilemma.

I made it to a TA truckstop north of St. Louis.  632 miles driven today and damned tired.  That alarm went off this morning at 3:25 am and I was not liking it.  I dragged my butt out of bed, got in the shower, got dressed, said bye to my dogs and left.  I was sooo tired, I tried to sleep at the driver's room at the plant, but it's just not a place for sleeping.  I did finally doze off just before the dude came in and handed me the keys to my truck - lots of safety precautions here, including having to give them the keys to your truck before they will load it - and off I went. 

I kept thinking, I am going to stop and sleep for 30 minutes. Another part of my brain: you do that and you'll have a lot of make up driving to do tomorrow morning. I fought sleep for 5 hours until my mandatory 30 minute break came up.  I went straight to the sleeper, set the alarm at 28 minutes and fell asleep. That thing went off, I popped up, got my shoes back on, drove until I was out of hours. I mean, within 15 minutes of having to shut down.

I figured if I did that, I would be able to get a full 8 hours of sleep and still have time to get dinner, fuel up the truck and hang out for a while on the internet.  And yes, I got my laptop out and that's what's putting up this post. 

Tho, I didn't know this TA was here.  I was going to go to Love's, another 20 miles up the road, but when I saw this place, I immediately exited. I wanted to eat a real dinner, not some junk from McDonald's or whatever.  Love's has a good thing going - except - for what it chooses to put in for food. Many truck drivers want a real restaurant after 14 hours of work, not fast food junk.

Anyway, even at 632 miles driven today, I'm still 2-1/2 hours away from the plant and have to be there no later than 9am.  So, another early day tomorrow, but not near as early as today. I really do not like this first loads.  I tried to get it changed to a later load time, but no go on that one. 

Lots of other stuff going on, but I think I'm going to go to sleep earlier than I first decided to. 

So, I drove all day long, got back to the  yard, unooked the truck, hooked back up to another trailer, went home. Started laundry, ate dinner, contemplated having to go right back out at 3:45 am to get loaded and drive to a place just short of Chicago.  And have to be there by the next morning at 8 am.  I get a 14 hour work day with 11 allowable hours of driving.  At 65 mph, I can drive 715 miles.
That's at a continuous 65 mph.  No allowance for slower speed limits, stop lights, etc.  The place is 750 miles from here.  I'm to load tomorrow morning at 5 am, it takes minimum 2 hours to load and that's if there aren't any issues and then drive clear there?  Okay. If I get on the HOS clock at 4:30, am I can be on duty until 6:30 pm.

I just have no idea how that is going to work out.  Manager says most guys say they make it there by 9 am. 

It's going to be a long day tomorrow, I can say that for a fact. 

But the problem is worse with this company. They really don't seem to have a clue what they are doing.  In some areas, yes, but in many others, no.  If you know you need more drivers, then get more drivers.  If you know you need more trucks to accommodate for that, then get more trucks.  I really don't get all of this.  I have great paychecks, that's what's keeping me there, so far. 

Well that's my scenario tomorrow. Get  the truck loaded and drive as many miles as I can before the HOS clock runs out.  Take the mandatory 10 hour break and finish the trip - probably starting around 4 am - and try to get there on time.

I'm tired.  Bedtime.

So...my manager calls me.  I had just put my laptop on top of the dashboard - I was getting bored and I didn't want to sit in that sleeper - got a movie up, decided to watch Tombstone. She's going off on this company that can't have our trailers up there on time.  She said the list she has shows there are 3 of them sitting at the border waiting to be brought up. 

I just now thought: why don't we just go get them?  I have a passport, if necessary.  So do a few other drivers.  Probably cost some time, but I can't imagine it costing 2 or 3 days as other drivers I have spoken with have complained about. Tho, I doubt they were complaining about it on their paychecks. 72 hours being paid to do nothing?  Getting bored? I can find things to do.  I got out of the truck, did a bunch of walking around in that yard in huge circles.  I'm going to have to get some dumb bells to put in the cargo bay.  I would really like to do at least a minimal work out since I am not longer getting the iron pumping I was getting at my Ferguson job. 

But can you imagine being paid an hourly wage to do whatever you please?  I mean, my manager told me today - I was asking questions about being down here because I had heard conflicting stories - that I could go get something to eat and just send the Uber bill to the company.  Oh yea.  I figured that, but wanted clarification. Actually, I wanted clarification on the pay for the entire time you are there.  Cause I had heard 2 completely different stories from 2 drivers.

One said, you are not being paid for your 10 hour rest break. Another said, you only have that done if you go to a hotel (which is company paid).  I thought, I could go to a hotel of my choosing, not have the company pay for it or even know about it (nothing wrong with that btw) and get my hourly pay for those 10 hours and come out WELL ahead. 3 of those 10 hours would pay for a decent hotel, I could stay at a Marriot for the 10 hours worth.  Well not around here.  There are Marriot's here but not that kind of money. 

I just don't get people that don't think things through.  I would rather stay at a hotel via company pay after I've been here long enough and not get anything. Or, do the other thing and get a room on my dime and still make out within the 10 hour rule.  Today? I opted for them to pay for the room. I was done with that place and I had finally gotten word: driver will be here in 2 hours.  Will whoop dee doo. If I lose a couple hours of detention pay, I'm not going to lose sleep over it after sitting in this dirt, barren parking lot with nothing within walking distance for almost 22 hours. 

I'm not really used to this kind of company.  I'll give the older drivers credit for the company being forced to pay for things that other companies wouldn't even think of.  I don't want to ruin it for them, which was another factor in my taking a company paid hotel.  But, plenty of drivers don't do that, they'll take the pay and sit at that lot for days. But, they complain about it.  Why not just pay for your own hotel and they don't even have to know about it?  Just curious. 

Anyway, it's almost bed time.  Tomorrow will be driving  all day, get home tomorrow night, spend the night at the house and then get up early, I am assuming, to get another load and off to who knows where. She wanted me to go to PA again, but since I couldn't get out of here, she has something "else" for me in mind, of the which I don't know. I would have gladly taken PA.  Nice long, high paying run.  She gets me the miles, tho. She mixes it up with short and long runs.

Anyway, I think it time to be off to bed. 

Going on 19 hours of waiting in Brownsville, TX. I have gotten pretty lucky every time I"ve come down here - until this trip.  I got here with 2 minutes left on the clock before I had to shut down.  I wanted to get here so I could legitimately say I am on the wait clock and get paid for it as soon as I got here.  Meaning, 19 hours of waiting at what I believe is $22 per hour.  I'll have to double check that on my pay slip when they snail mail it to me.  I actually had no idea if was going to have to wait or not, but if I did, you aren't getting paid until you actually arrive and the full trailer is sitting on the lot and you are waiting for one to come up from Mexico.

I was told by the people that run this place that there was one coming mid afternoon.  That effectively puts my out of the running for getting home today. I have no desire or need to be driving until 3 am, I just won't do it.  Drive til' 11 or so, take my 10 break and then finish it off tomorrow. Or, if it doesn't get here until too late, I won't even take off tonight.  I'm just not in love with night driving and there isn't any need to get back at some certain time tomorrow. If they need the trailer for another load coming down here, the earliest is going to be for a Sunday load time. And after computer my hours, I won't have enough to take another load, I'll have to do a 34 hour reset, which would be quite fine by me. 

Have half of Saturday off and all of Sunday and then get with it Monday morning if something is available.  It's become evident that use new drivers, or at least me for sure that I know of, are really just giving tenured drivers the ability to take time off. 

There are a few things I"m not liking about this job, the truck situation is the one that I am having a hard time dealing with, the rest of it is stuff I can just overlook and continue on.  I'm not in love with seeing $1,200 being taken out of my checks in taxes, either, that's a bit ridiculous.  That's not 401k deductions or health insurance coverage, that's just taxes.  I just got 401k started, probably didn't come out of this check tho.  For the life of me, I cannot remember how to get onto this company's intranet and see pay stubs.  Going to have to figure that one out again.  But, anyway, I'm having 10% of my checks taken out for retirement savings starting next paycheck. 

I've been respectful about it, but I"ve made no bones about my discontent with trucks, being shifted around from one to another to another, getting dumped into a truck that has over half a million miles on it and has broken down twice in the short amount of time I've been in it.  At the same time, I haven't quite pulled myself to the point of starting to look for a new job. I just despise looking for jobs.  At least the paychecks are quite good here, which is a mitigating factor in all of this. 

If there was a store within walking distance, I would go buy some cleaners and scrub the interior of this thing down. I'm in a company truck now, old as it may be, and it has the Quaalcom on it.  That means if I want to go to the store, I have to log in and go on duty to use it. Which means the 14 hour clock starts ticking and doesn't shut off. If you do no more driving that day and go off duty, then it's 10 hours before you get your 14 reset back again.  That's right, you drove the truck for 15 minutes you still have to start all over.  Pretty unfair and unrealistic, but this is what the feds mandate. 

Well anyway, new things on the horizon as I will really start looking for a house for them starting this coming week.  Just didn't want to waste too much time on it when we were informed they would have to move since it was 2 months out.  I've found a few interesting ones, but they are also looking around when they are out and about. They found a couple of places not too far away but thought the monthly rate was too high.  I'm helping them get into a place because they have zero credit, I'm not paying for it.  Well, I"ll pay the deposits but that's it. Yes, I know it's in my name, yes I know I will be held responsible if they don't pay me for some reason, noted.

Well really, since I'm sitting here I might as well get on the rental sites and start searching.  A productive use of my time.  I have so much data left this month - which resets tomorrow, I think I will stream a movie as well. 

Anyway, just an update. 

 So now, I'm getting dumped into yet another truck.  This time, a rental another guy's been using.  Unlucky him, they are dumping him into an old truck that is like a piece of s*** as is the one I am currently driving.  That will make 5 trucks I have been in since starting this company, trust me, that is quite abnormal and quite unacceptable.   They really should have never put out any ads looking for new drivers, they weren't set up for it and almost 4 months later, they still aren't.  I'd go back into that day cab rental over this old heap of a rental that I'm going into today. 

The idea that any large trucking company is using old trucks......

Well, anyway, Ann called me  a little while ago with this news.  Joe is getting out of his rental and I would really appreciate it if you could come in and take it and a trailer over to the plant and get loaded.  Oh. That's it? Just load it?  Oh, no you take to the plant too.

I had to bite my tongue. I don't want to lash out, I really don't want to take it out on Ann anyway, really nice lady, but enough is enough.  All these other drivers are driving late model Peterbilts. I mean, within 2 years old, maybe 3 in some cases. 

I mean seriously, these woes started immediately after we got out orientation - they had no trucks available for us and couldn't find any rentals - and has continued on since then.  I really don't want to start looking for another job. It's such as pain in the @$$ to fill out all those applications, take phone calls, reply to emails, etc ad nauseum.  I have to weigh in my mind whether driving  in these old, junk trucks is any worse than going through yet another employment process.  Number of companies I have been working at in a short period of time be damned.  There is a shortage of drivers, companies are upping their pay scale to attract new drivers and increasing benefits.

Whatever.  I'll have 3 days on the road to think about it, I figure that's what this run is going to take in terms of time on the road.  2 nights, 3 days.  At least I'll get some miles in if nothing else. 

Oh well.  Off to the races. 

Sunday morning. Get up at 7am, usual routine in getting ready for work and getting there. Hook up to trailer, get to plant, etc.  Get to loading rack.  Dude goes out, bang bang bang bang bang!!! It's the normal noise you here when they are using a solid brass hammer to hit a solid brass fitting snug.  No sparks, is the point and easy on and off.  Just beat the crap out of the fitting with large ears to hit onto on and then the same thing reversed to get it off.

Well, I'm sitting in the driver's "lounge", I guess you could call it, playing on my cell phone and I keep hearing this banging.  After a while, I'm thinking, this isn't normal. You hear the banging for 2 rounds and that's it. I've heard this 10 times at least.  So, I put all my gear on, go out there and find that there is a bad fitting on the trailer.  He was attempting to get the thing off of there, which obviously wasn't going to happen without some help.  Some serious help at that.  He was trying to just push the thing off with a giant plumber's wrench, I knew that wasn't going to work after 2 seconds of looking at the situation.

I did do mechanics and I still do occasional plumbing for decades.  First off, the the entire thing had had 130 below zero liquid passing through it.  Second off, you know when something is that hard to break free, you are going to have to both muscle it with your hands and bang on it with a large hammer at the same time.  I suggested to him that's what he needs to do and offered my help, of course.  There was no way on earth anyone would have ever gotten that fitting off of there in those conditions by themselves.  We wrestled with that stupid thing for half an hour before finally getting it loosed.  It eventually came off. We're talking both of us pushing on that wrench - 3 hands and me banging on the thing with the hammer at the same time.

I was a bit surprised to see they actually had this particular fitting, a brand new one, sitting out there ready to be put into use.  He stated that he could have just said no and sent the trailer out of there, but decided that since we don't current have a mechanic (he quit last week) he would help us out.  Which was cool. Getting the fitting on there was easy.  But getting the plate that goes around the fitting, that perfectly fits the octangle it is?  Yikes. That took a while.  Then, the entire thing had to be bolted back to the floor, yet another muscle versus physics situation that we eventually won.

After that, it was nothing.  Just fill the truck up and go.  But, as this day didn't start out right, it wasn't going to get any better.  Because, the time it took go to from the loading rack to the scales, about 10 minutes, the truck started dumping engine coolant. I knew this because there was steam pouring out the hood of the truck.  I could smell it, I knew it wasn't a fire so I didn't quite panic.  In fact, I just got off the scale, ignored it and went inside to get the paperwork done.  Now that I had the truck loaded, I might as well get that finished and then deal with this nonsense.  I came back out when another helpful driver came up - hey, I saw a trail of fluid leading from the scale to where you are parked and that giant puddle under your truck.  I thanked him, he was trying to help, even though I already knew there was yet another fiasco coming that I didn't really want to deal with after going through that ordeal with the trailer.

Not that I would have wanted to deal with it regardless of if anything had occurred before that.  I knew that truck wasn't getting fixed today. This is not a major metropolitan area with at least a few truck repair shops that are open 24/7.  There are plenty of repair shops here, but they aren't going to be open on Sundays. You might get emergency service out, but it's going to cost you a lot more, if it's even available, than a repair shop during it's regular business hours is going to cost.

So, after having a conversation with my manager, who had called the dude over repairs, she instructed me to take the truck back to the yard, drop the trailer on the cement (heavy trailers can actually tip over in soft dirt), unhook and the repair coordinator would see about getting the truck fixed today.  Again, I knew that wasn't going to happen.  I figured I would end up going home and I was right.  So here it is, Sunday night and I've been home since 2:00 pm.

It is obvious that the "repair" the dealership did in Tulsa wasn't a good one.  I was happy that this didn't happen out in the middle of nowhere, and that I got to go home instead of sitting in a dead truck putting out no heat because the fluid had all but drained out of it.  Amazing the thing didn't over heat coming back to the yard, I suppose 32 degree weather helped with that.

Regardless, I went into the office and waited. She eventually called me back. You might as well go home and take the afternoon off.  Yup, I thought but didn't say, I knew this was coming. A lot of other thoughts that came to mind as well that I didn't mention.

Such as this hype that was given to all 3 of us new drivers endlessly that there were 10 new trucks ordered and that we would be in rental trucks for a short time until they arrived.  This little lie, I'm calling it a lie now, started before we ever got into orientation. It was told us during orientation. It was reaffirmed to us multiple times after  orientation.  I've not said anything to management about this so far.  But they are pushing it.  The other 2 new drivers are far more upset about this than I am and I have been through a lot more than them since starting work here. They have yet to unload a single truck, for starters, but that is minor compared to some of this other stuff.

I don't have any jobs lined up. I stopped looking after getting this one, hoping that this one would be "The One". Even if not perfect, good enough. I am capable of tolerating a lot of shit in this industry, but junk trucks are not one of them.  You go from one breakdown to the next. You live inside of someone else's misfortunes in breaking things, scuffing things up, tearing up interior, filthy carpeting, etc.   Basically, someone else lived in there before you and indelible marks to remind you of that.  Most companies are now actually giving drivers either new trucks, or late model trucks that are still in good condition.

Whatever. I've given my all to make a good impression, bust my ass, get the job done, to get this in return?  There are plenty of trucking companies wanting jobs out there. There is a huge shortage of drivers right now. This company included in the dilemma of trying to attract new drivers. 

I'm in the "whatever" mood right now. I'm tired of seeing companies treating their employees as expendable trash.  The 'if you don't like it, leave" mentality.  They can sit in their offices and make all kinds of dictations about how drivers are to run their lives in their trucks and fully forget that we are human beings and, we have life experience and, we have expectations of the companies we are working for.  Really, all it would take is a decent truck, with a nice interior that hasn't been trashed. 

Okay, well, it's night time, I'm just sitting here contemplating what my next move is. I'm likely to start putting out applications again. 

Very glad I didn't try to swap trucks yesterday.  I wouldn't even have gotten out of the Ryder truck rental place in time to get back to the dealership to get "my" truck.  I'm still very disappointed after being told by numerous beings in this corporation that they were getting 10 new trucks to find out yesterday they aren't getting any  new trucks, they had been given to "other" people and that was that.  Change that, I wouldn't have even made it TO the Ryder place after all the rigarmaroo at the Volvo dealership. Without going into all of that stuff  and ready to leave, I get a message on the screen on the dashboard about a light that has an open circuit.

I assume this means a burnt out bulb.  I checked all the lights, but admittedly didn't check the brake lights.  Yet, anyway.  They make it next to impossible to do that without having someone else out there looking at them.  I found something to prop the Johnson handle down enough to engage the trailer brakes, enough to turn all the brake lights on.  Sure enough, the passenger side brake light inop.  I was treading the waters of not having enough hours for the day to sit around waiting or "authorization" to buy a freaking sealed light and then have someone install it, so I just bought the thing and installed it myself.

The days of hotel stays are over.  Unless this truck breaks down again. What I found utterly hilarious is that the only thing wrong with it was the clamp that blew off the hose.  Yup.  I mean, I took pics of this shit and sent it to my manager who sent it to the dude that is supposed to "know everything".  Not my truck, not my money. I document everything with pics, if they want to ignore that, that's on them.

Wait, I shouldn't say over completely. In situations where I find myself having to sit for 15 plus hours, I likely will find my own place and it's whatever.  I guess I'll have to get used to this truck - or go find a new job, cause' they could care less about broken promises of new trucks. I didn't ask for a new truck, btw this came from them at the get go. I guess I good sign should have been that after orientation, they didn't even have trucks for us to drive.  Still, this thing has over 500 k miles on it, it was sitting in a yard for them to get rid of it, not for some new driver to have to come along and take. And now, these other 2 new drivers are going to get stuck in old trucks from the teams that got the new ones.
_______________________

Saturday.  Day off.  Been doing laundry literally all day long.  Lots of back log in that stuff.  Put together my new office/computer chair.  I'm also going to buy a nice, new computer desk and also a dresser/chest of drawers set.  I found one that I talked down to $250, very nice looking set but I don't have the time to go up there and get it.  It's about 60 miles from here.  Well worth the trip, just no time today. I have too much to get done around here and then, off to the Port again tomorrow. That's Cheniere.  I don't really want to be sent there too often, tho.  I hope she doesn't make a habit out of it.  You make no real money on that trip. Other drivers warned me about it, but after actually doing one of those trips, I can see why.  It's basically a waste of time.  I mean, if I can do it in one day, then fine.  But last time, too many obstacles put in my way to get that done.

I'ts probably around a $300 trip, so yes, one day.  But, regardless of when I get back, either tomorrow night or Monday morning, it will cost me Monday of getting another load and getting out on a hopefully longer run. I'm making a minimum of $300 per day at this job, some days much more than that.

Well. Anyway. Upon looking at the closets in the tractor more closely, the one that is really narrow is a hanging clothes closet.  Which would be fine in some other setup, but not in a tractor where space is limited.  that closet could have been made much wider and accommodate for many other things than just hanging your clothes up in there.  Like a refrigerator?  I can keep my clothes in a duffel bag, thanks, I need the space for other things.  Volvo messed up on that one.

Uhh, I guess I'm stuck in the thing, that has an automatic transmission that I totally despise. After being in the rental truck and shifting gears, I didn't want to go back to this thing.  I found out at the rental place that they actually - allegedly anyway - have a thing on commercial licenses that's added if you aren't "qualified" to use a manual transmission.  The whole trucking industry is being transformed into something totally unrecognizable.  People that can't shift gears?

More and more stories about driverless trucks. They're coming.  I don't know when they will take over the industry, probably years down the road, but it's going to put a lot of people out of work.  Millions and millions of people aren't going to have a profession anymore.  So what's my take on this? I can't stop automation.  I can't stop technology.  I don't trust driverless trucks for several reasons but they are hell bent on putting them out there.  It's coming, sooner or later.

They can do most of the work I'm currently doing.  Excepting at places that the driver has to unload - but that can be accomodated for.  I just don't know.  I'm getting too old to try and switch to something new.  Well, not really.  I could if I were forced into it.   If I were ask my company right now if they were going to do the driverless route when it becomes available, they would probably say no. But given the opportunity? Sure, those trucks will cost a LOT more, but you aren't paying a driver and giving him/her benefits.

It's kind of sucky, really, that they are hell bent on going that route.  I just have to accept it's coming and what am I going to do about it?  Nothing.  I'll drive until they don't need me anymore and then?  I dunno.  Maybe I'll have property by then and can raise a small herd of cattle.  I was in an Uber today, the dude is older and doing it for extra income. But even that is going to go away to driverless cars.

This technology is being tested, it's only a matter of time.  The only question that remains in my mind is: will they allow this technology to transfer over to hazmat? And I can guarantee you, they don't have anyone at gas stations that can unload those trucks. There are situations I can think of where automation isn't going to work. Or, it will work to get the product there but after that, unless they also are going to have robots, it's going to need a human being to fulfill the rest of it.

Funny we're in an age where humans are being factored out.  I'm not 20.  I don't have my whole life ahead of me.  But, I will adapt if I have to, I'll figure something out.  Just kind of scary, really.  To think that in the near future, probably anyway, millions and millions of people's line of work will be eliminated.

Yes, I got the load to a place near Tulsa.  I fortunately didn't have time to stop and get "my" truck out of the shop. By the time I hit Tulsa, it was too late. Both the shop and the place to return the truck to close at 5, no way in 40 minutes I would have been able to get all of that done. Drop the trailer at the shop, get my stuff out of the tractor and into the other one, drive the tractor back to the rental place, have them check it out, sign off on it, get an Uber to take me back to repair shop, finish up and leave? Naaah.  So, I'm back at the hotel I was in last time I came up here, a Candlewood Suites place. Replete with a very nice Mexican food restaurant in front with excellent food and reasonable prices. 

I don't feel bad, at all, about another company paid hotel night, for all I've gone through being here, I'm fine with it.  I actually don't mind sleeping in that truck, it's the only good thing about it.  The engine runs all night long with that humming sound I am used to and the minor vibration just lulls me to sleep.  

Basically, the 10 new trucks was a fairy tale. Those trucks were given to teams.  I mean, we've been told since we started orientation, well no, even before that, that they were getting 10 new trucks.  So, no new trucks, stuck in this old thing with 500k miles, I consider them to have lied to me.  But, what trucking company doesn't.  They'll all say stuff to you to get you in there and then, boom.  Uhh, yea that's not going to happen.  Thanks.

I'm going to have to figure out if I can deck this old pile of trash out or just - what?  I have to do something with it.  

Well, it's not any better news for the other 2 new drivers.  They are gong to be dumped into someone else's old relics as well.  One of the trucks has a hole in the side of the sleeper.  I'm just confounded that a company with their reputation would be treating new drivers like this.  It's one thing to make promises you can't keep, it's another to not only not keep that promise but go to the entirely other end of the scale of it, in this case, not only not new trucks, but junk  trucks on top of that.  Stuff that was sitting in a yard somewhere, ready to be sold off at auction.  

Oh, I got a call from Marie tonight. She's the lady that went up to PA after I did.  We talked for over an hour on the phone.  She's really cool.  We went over everything. She was flabbergasted about our truck situation. You have to realize, all the drivers besides us new ones are driving newer Peterbilts in excellent condition.  

Ugh. I"m getting off of here. This kind of talk is depressing, think I'll focus on something else.  

Well that was an interesting trip. Got to the plant at 4:30 am, checked in, to the scale, checking in again, to the loading rack - problem with the trailer.  That was the start of a long day. My birthday to boot. And, I was exhausted because I didn't sleep well - nothing new there but trying to run 14 hours on 3 hours of sleep is pretty nightmarish, actually.  I finally get another trailer over there, started heading down to Brownsville.  But sleep was calling. I guess an I can say fortunately my 30 minute break was coming up already because it took so long to get that ordeal taken care of.

I passed out and woke up 20 ,minutes later. Can't say I felt like heaven, but it was enough to push me through the rest of the day, getting down near Brownsville,  but not enough hours to actually get there.  I'm paper logs, I could have cheated but, no.  It's not worth it.  New company, good pay, great immediate manager.  I'm sticking around if they'll keep me.  Corporate managers, however, different story.  No, change that: the same story irrelevant of where you're working if it's a large, publicly owned company.

So, I get down there the next morning, which was yesterday, give the paperwork to the yard dude, drop the trailer and wait. I see one of the other drivers that went through orientation with me and we talked for about an hour.  He was both happy and unhappy. Huge paychecks, but a lot of bs.  After listening to him for a while, I came to understand that he hadn't gone through near the ordeals I have been through, but I left that alone.  He had been waiting there for 2 days for a trailer to show up.  Well, you get paid an hourly wage for doing nothing.  He's like me, tho, he wants to get home.  I'm getting a bit less attached to that tho. I need the money, being out on the road isn't wonderful, but it's not going to kill me either.

Well, unless I get into an accident and the trailer blows up, or I get covered in the liquid and instantly freeze to death, or around the liquid pouring out of the trailer and suffocate.  Lol, this is what a long time driver informed me about this chemical a few days ago.

Finally, a trailer comes in, he takes that one, of course.  Another showed up 2 hours later and that was mine.  But, you see, I do pre trip inspections on any truck I get into or trailer I'm about to haul. I'm not going to just not see damage to something and then - later on - get blamed for it. Screw that.  So, I slide the 5th wheel under the trailer and locked it in.  Got out, took a look.  Kingpin locked, but what is this?  A huge gap between the 5th wheel plate on the tractor and the plate on the trailer it snugs up against.

I unhooked, pulled out.  The plate on that trailer on the passenger side bent down.  I mean, how does that even happen? We're talking about thick, solid steel.  The rest of the truck may be lessor with steel thickness, they aren't playing around when it comes to the trailer plate, the king pin or the 5th wheel.  There is a lot of weight and torque when taking off and slowing down in that little area. I was perplexed at that, but the trailer comes up from Mexico. Who knows what they did down there. I took photos and sent them to my manager. I want this documented and I want management to know this is the situation, how would you like to proceed?

Cause' honey, I have never seen anything like that on a truck, and I have been driving since 1985.  Conventional wisdom is that the entire mating surface of the 5th wheel should be snug up against the trailer plate. No gaps and certainly no portions where you can see daylight through the other side.  I was worried about stress on the kingpin.  I contacted my manager who asked another driver.  Ugh. I don't need another driver's opinion, he doesn't know anything more than I do, and I probably know more than he does because I did trucks mechanics earlier in life.  He's telling her: Oh, yeah, I had one like that. Get under it and bring it!

I informed my manager of my trucking experience and my knowledge of trucks and that this isn't normal, is probably unsafe and what to do next.  Well, I got it from her to go ahead and pull it back. Not too worried because it's not under load, no liquid in it, light trailer.  Got back to the yard.  Had a great conversation with her for at least an hour.  But, she called several people and eventually this dude is on the phone on speakerphone.  She's talking to him and he immediately comes to the conclusion that the driver is at fault. Me.  Oh no, it's not him.  He contacted me while he was down there.  I told him to go ahead and pull it up here.  Oh.

THIS is exactly why I go through the trouble of documenting this junk before I pull anything, anywhere. Because you will be automatically blamed, doesn't matter if someone else did it, unless, you take pics, send them to your manager and understand that you have permission to pull the thing back.  If something happens, point to management.  Tho that doesn't excuse me if something did happen.  I didn't think the thing was going to break off of there, the kingpin that is, not being under load.  But, I was sure to try and at least get a mechanic with knowledge of this stuff out there to take a look and either give an approval or say, uhh, no, this needs to be fixed.

I'm guessing the latter. No mechanic in his right mind is going to say, yeah, that's cool.  He's going to say, no, this is unsafe, could eventually cause a crack and then a break, it needs to be fixed. That kind of repair is huge.  I mean, a lot of man hours put into it cutting that entire plate out of there and installing a new one.  But that's not my problem.  I don't care what it costs them. I didn't create this and more importantly, I'm not going to absorb the blame for someone else's bs.  If I break something, I will own up to it. Rare, far and few between and always something caused by the road (rocks, tire treads that I didn't see at night driving, etc.).

So, that dude got off that kick and my manager, thankfully, fully backed me up. In fact, when she was outside on the phone with them - I stayed inside to finish paperwork as I already knew what it looked like and had thoroughly explained it to her and 2 different people on speakerphone - she told me she had told them she wished she had 10 drivers like me.  : )  That's a pretty good compliment : )  I'll take it.

Anyway, they are having a mechanic come out to take a look at it and I have washed my hands of it.  Meanwhile, I got home and Donnie texted me the number for the dog groomer he takes his dog to. Yes, I had asked a few days ago.  So I called them.  Honey, when do you want to bring him in?  lol, I can't say I don't like it when strange women talk to me like that haha.  Anyway: Do you have time today?  Oh yes sweetie, bring him in.  : )  8 minutes later, we're there. Didn't expect the kenneling stuff tho.  He has never been in a kennel, I have never needed to. He's a good doggy. He'll sleep all night long in my bedroom, alone, in his or my bed - whichever he chooses - while I'm gone.  He won't chew the entire room up - which Danes are well known to do when left alone like that.

Well, the entire place erupted into dog barking.  I didn't understand at first those dogs weren't barking at Addler, they were barking at me.  I mean, some of them howling, others really upset that I was in there.  Lady that runs the place explained without my asking they aren't used to being around men. I kinda wondered if men hadn't abused them to make them so terribly unhappy with a male human walking into the place, but I kept that to myself.

I left him there, comfortable with the place after inspecting the back yard and it's fencing. Solid, 6 feet tall, one gate with solid metal, he's not getting out. And anyway, he was standing at the door, wondering why the hell I had left him out there.  After going home, a call an hour and a half later: We got him alllll cleaned up : )  I could feel the smile over the phone.  Okay, I'll be there in less than 10 minutes.

Went straight over there, he was laying on the floor, one of the ladies was using a dremel on his claws.  I knew he would love it after seeing the entire place is run by ladies.  They immediately reported a big gouge on his hind leg.  He doesn't like baths. I knew this before taking him in there. But, I gambled that if these nice ladies were doing it, he would fall in love with it.  Well, when they got him in the bath tub, he jumped out of it - Addler is very agile, considering his size, you wouldn't think he could do such things - and scraped it up.  It's an open wound, yes, but it isn't bleeding and considering the situation I left him in, I didn't really think it that big a deal.  They were swooning over him tho. "He's such a sweet doggy".  And other statements like that. Made me feel good that the dog behaved himself and acted his normal self at a strange place with people he doesn't know, didn't try to bite any other dogs and behaved himself.

Well, but he's not used to being bathed, is he?  Uhh, no.  I've bathed him with a garden hose and he doesn't like it.  I figured to try bringing him in a place like this with loving people and warm water and people that do this on a daily basis and see if it works out.  Did he behave, can I bring him in again?  Oh yeeeesssss.  That's when I learned about the instant taking they had to him haha.  Well how much do I owe you? $25.  I was taken aback. The bigger the dog, the more they charge, everywhere else I"ve been.  I gave them $10 extra for putting up with his initial bs of jumping out of the tub and really, it's going to take longer to wash a larger animal, right?  I just thought they deserved more than that.  I was thinking at least $60 to be honest, I never asked them how much they charged, I just knew this dog stinks and NEEDS a bath, haha.

Well that's it for me.  I got back at 10:45 from the run this morning. spent an hour and a half visiting with my manager.  Got home, took the dog to the bathhouse and now? I'm just chilling, as the younger generation likes to put it.  I have zero plans for the rest of the day.  I haven't been sent the info on where I'm going tomorrow morning, tho it sounds like Brownsville again, I just know that it's probably going to be an early start and I will want to go to bed early.  Brownsville - enough of those runs - equals a very healthy paycheck.

I may have sealed my fate with doing run after run, but we did talk about my living situation and my need to make as much money as I can right now to get my peeples into a decent place.  I really do need to get some serious money up to pay for that and still be able to get ahead. I want to be able to afford that without it leaving my finances drained.  And then, get some money saved up and starting making payments to pay down credit card debt.

Anyway, I think I'll mosey out to the living room and see if there's any good movies on.  I was going to have it turned on in this room, like this week I was going to do that, but now that my friends are moving back, I'll be back in my old bedroom and it already has a satellite receiver in there, so I'll just wait. TV isn't that important to me, but I really like to watch the news.

I think that's it.  Oh yes, called today about rolling over 401k. Not really happy this company uses Wells Fargo. I'm not a fan.  I like Prudential where it's sitting now, but I obviously can't dump money into it being with a different employer.  It would be a waste of time starting from scratch with a different employer, the power of whatever money I already have in there pays off for dividends.  So, I"m going to transfer it.  I'm not hearing that I am going to be released after 90 days, I am NOT happy that I am in an old truck, neither are the other 2 drivers that are about to be dumped into even worse trucks than the piece of shit that I was in until this rental truck, but going to back to that abomination soon. I don't count myself lucky, either.  We were promised at orientation that we were getting new trucks. We were then told that maybe some of the new drivers would get the new trucks and we would get their "old" ones. I would HAPPILY take one of their "OLD" trucks over this shit they are putting us in.

Well word is in for tomorrow's run. Going up to Oklahoma. Return the rental to it's proper place, lol and get the fixed truck that I'm apparently being stuck in forever and then make the delivery up in Barnsdall. Or, if not open, make the delivery and then come back and get the truck. Whatever the case, the days of living in hotels is over for now.  I love hotels : ).  I can't say they're better than home, but they are sure as heck better in most ways than a sleeper in a truck.  However, this particular truck doesn't have an APU, so I have to run the engine all night long and I can tell you, the vibration of that engine puts me right to sleep : ) 

G'nite. 

My Birthday

It started at what I thought was 3:15 am. Got up, took a shower, got out, petted my doggies, looked at the clock. It was 3:00 am.  What? Okay, the alarm for 3:15 am was still green, meaning it would have gone off. I must have accidentally set another alarm?  I dunno, but I took my pants off, set the alarm for 3:35 and went back to bed. The reason I did that is because I didn't get a wink of sleep. Well a couple of hours worth, which basically equals nothing.  I have no idea. I was awakened by the dogs growling at something, they stopped and then I tried to get back to sleep.

It never happened.  I got out of bed at 3:35 am, petted my doggies again, then got out the door.  Got the truck at the yard, went to the plant.  Went through the entire process of getting in there, getting weighed, going to the rack.  This place is huge and everything has a process.  Then I had to wait for the dude to come out to the rack. He has me position the truck to where he wants it. He got busy, I started putting on all that gear I have to put on.  Fire proof clothing, steel toed boots, gloves, eye protection and a hard hat replete with a face shield and ear muffs.

I go to put the key into the box. You can't even leave the key in your truck, obviously they have had some braniac truck drivers in there doing stupid things. Such as taking off when the hoses are still attached to the truck.  Hey bro, we have a problem here.  He goes to show me the lever for an emergency valve that has to be pulled out to fill the truck. The cable is broken. 

I thought, I got up at before 3:00 am to get my ass over to the yard and get everything done to find out this trailer is broken? And this is my birthday?  lol  I call my manager: please drop it at National. A place that fixes trucks.  Take it to National.  Don't leave it there, she calls me back - after I had already dropped the trailer - bring it back to the yard.  I'm feeling like HELL at this point. My head aching from not getting enough sleep and all this s*** going on.  Back to the yard.  Text the manager: these are the trailers here.  Oh, yes, LE001.  Take that one.  Unhook, rehook, more paperwork, back to the plant, go through the entire process again.  Get to the drivers shack and yes, I passed out in the chair for a while. 

That was actually helpful, but not nearly enough to recover almost an entire's night's worth of sleep - poof, gone into the thin blue air.  I get out of there, drive down the road for 90 miles, and take my 30 minute break in Nacogdoches. An ancient truck stop, perfect place, I didn't need fuel. Literally passed out again, only to wake up 20 minutes later.  Went inside and got breakfast/lunch. Got back on the road.  Drove for 6 hours straight but i was fighting sleep.  I ended up pulling over into a parking lot right off the side of the highway and passing out yet again for 15 minutes.  That was enough to get me down here - about 55 miles away from the drop point.  I didn't have enough hours to make it down there legally and my company not a fan of going over hours. 

They put me up in a hotel for the night. I'm still in a rental truck so they would have had to done that. But, on my birthday and out here alone, I would have paid for it myself if they weren't required to do so.  Holiday Inn Express. Nice enough, A bit too "modern" for me in the furnishings and paint style, but, it's clean, has  a very wonderful looking queen bed and a 48inch flat screen TV with, get this, almost ALL of the movies channels on Direct TV!

Well, that's about it.  I'm on my second movie.  But I am going to bed soon. I hope to get some serious sleep tonight. That would be a nice Birthday gift!

I did ask.  Can I have Sunday off?  Monday is my birthday but my "peeples" want to celebrate it with me on Sunday. Okay, I didn't mention Superbowl Sunday, I want to be home for that.  I'm not a fan of either team but I'm rooting for the Eagles.  Just cause' mom says she'd like to see them win. If Steelers were involved, the whole family would be rooting for them.

So, she said, well, I'll see what I can do.  She is under pressure to get the loads given out.  And now that I can unload these trailers, a whole new world has opened up in terms of new places to go, but also puts me online to take other, senior drivers off line for them to go home and have off time.  I know, I'm new, Oh well. My only "complaint", which it isn't really a complaint, but these other 2 new drivers haven't learned how to offload yet.  If they got dumped into that world as I was, this would take  some of this off of me. I want to work and make money, yes, but I want a couple days off here and there as well.

So, I have 2 days off - actually 2-1/2 days considering I got home today around 2:00 pm, but I will pay for it. I will have to get up at 3:00 am Monday morning to be on the scale at 5:00 and get loaded after weighing out.  And then, drive all day long to Brownsville. It's a great run money wise, but getting up that early?  Ugh.

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Okay, a bit has transpired here since yesterday.  With my friends moving back, they were asking Rene if she wanted to earn some extra money and watch her boys after she finds a job.  Great opportunity for Rene.  Something she can do, something she likes to do and she'll be over here a lot.  She already said she would make dinner for everyone while watching the boys.  So, I'm not losing my personal chef, lol.  She's really good cook.

I started looking for places for them. Just to see what's out there.  It's still too early to start looking for a place tho.  I mean, it's April 1st they have to be out of here.  Most places aren't going to hold a house for that long and I'm not paying rent for an empty house.  I'm going to be working a lot - hopefully anyway - to get enough cash up for the deposit and get utilities turned on. They will continue to pay their rent, but it will go to me and they will hopefully have a nice place to stay.  We'll see what happens.

It's really working out much better than I had thought tho.  I mean, with her being over here watching the boys during the day and cooking, she's not only making money, she's also doing something with a little more purpose in life.  Not to mention she LOVES to cook.  If we're all here at the same time, that's 7 people to cook for.

But, James is going to truck driver training school and then OTR.  He'll be home at most every 2 weeks.  Maybe 3 weeks out.  That's my experience with OTR and I doubt it's changed much. In fact, I'm sure it hasn't cause I've seen all the ads and even applied at a few of them a while back.  I dunno. He's got young kids and he won't be home much.  I can't judge him tho, he wants to provide for his family.  ATT isn't cutting it for him.  I dunno if he'll make more right off the bat with trucking, but eventually he'll make a lot more.  In fact, I told him that if he keeps his nose clean for a year and doesn't have any accidents and keeps away from getting tickets, I could recommend him to where I'm working.  If I'm still there, lol.

Not that I don't want to be there, but 90 day probation still isn't up yet.  So, Just kind of hanging over my head until that goes away.  I intend on staying there for at least a year if possible.  Just taking it a day at a time.  Been through quite a bit in the short time I"ve been there, I hope they see that..I was sent a text yesterday saying I hadn't turned in my mileage from a particular trip and that the only way I get paid is if I do so.

I explained that that was the trip the truck broke down, I got distracted by trying to get the thing towed, getting it to Tulsa and then dealing with this tow truck driver damaging the truck at the repair shop.  Not like it was a worry free day.  My manager replied:"well can you get it?". It being mileages.  I replied, no, the truck is in the shop, I have no access to it.  Further, the axles were removed, so the odometer reading wouldn't show the 140 miles the truck was towed.  I did have the mileage for the rental truck starting at that facility, going up to the plant and then back to our yard, so they just took that, added the miles it takes to get from the yard to the repair shop and that was that.

I was wondering what she would say to that.  She said, dang, well she'll (corporate lady) just have to fill it in.  After I at least could give the rental truck readings that was good enough for her.  I do like my manager, she's a caring person.  She has a lot of stress trying to get the loads taken care of and still trying to appease to drivers wanting time off.  What would really help is if these 2 other new drivers were to be thrust into the world of having to unload such as I was. Then, they  could also be sent to these places that nobody wants to go to.

I dunno, but the main objective was that Brownsville would be completely covered after getting 3 new drivers.  I dunno if that's true or not.  I do know I'm going down there Monday and I am hoping she'll get me back in that Marriott. That is a great  hotel!  But a "lessor" place would suffice.  Just nothing like Motel 6.

Funny that Motel 6 used to be my go-to hotel. It was cheap, it was good enough for a night's sleep and that was that.  But over the years, a lot of their properties I had been to had deteriorated.  Paint outside, ripped furniture, stains on carpeting, mold in the shower.  I haven't been to one in quite a while.  I've seen that they have started taking over existing hotel properties versus building and entirely new hotel.  Some of them - look - nice.  But I dare not go back into one. Their once great prices - which is what attracted me to the places in the first place - aren't so great anymore, either.  I remember seeing them as low as $15.99 back in the day. $19.99 Then the price went up and up and up.  To the point now, they are not longer the bargain they once were.  And for the money? I can pay $20 more and stay at a much nicer place.

I haven't had much time to post anything.  Work, find a hotel, go to sleep. Work, go home, get up early, go to work. I mean, my manager is dumping me with stuff as soon as I'm done with what I'm doing. Not a bad thing, not complaining - too much - but this morning, ugh.

See, I got home last night at 8pm.  I knew I should have gone to sleep earlier, but I had a ton of paperwork to fill out and I needed to do laundry.  I mean, in the last 8 days I've made over 4 grand.  I'm not boasting, I'm just saying that all this work is adding up to incredible paychecks - at least by my standards, dunno about anyone else. Such as that dude at the Marriott.  Can't imagine making millions of dollars a year to go to work and travel around all over the place. Yes I know there is more to it than that, a lot of headaches I'm sure, but still, the money would make up for it in my world.

So I stayed up til 10:30 getting everything done and spending time with doggies and finally going to sleep. But 4:45am came around and the alarm clock went off literally in my ear. Had it set up on my Iphone.  I bolted upright, looked around in the dark, dazed and confused. Wait, I"m supposed to have today off, aren't I?  I was in shock that I had to get up for the third time in a row in the last 7 days to get to the scales on time at the plant.  I didn't even take a shower - don't worry I took one the night before, lol - but I was totally OUT of it.

I was in the middle of a deep sleep and would have easily slept for 3 more hours.  What's funny right now is that it's almost 10:00 pm, a complete replay of last night except I don't have to be at the scales in the morning. That's because I"m stuck in Lufkin, Texas.  Not enough hours to get back to the yard.  No biggies, at a nice Comfort Inn. Not as nice as that Marriott - a rare treat - but it's not a dump.  It took the entire morning for me to fully wake up.  I was out of it. Now? I'm wide awake and waiting for sleep mode to kick in, but I can tell ya, I'm not getting up early in the morning. Probably get up around 7 and leave by 8, after having whatever version of breakfast and coffee they are serving here.

So, today marked a few hallmarks for me. First, the dreaded Cheneire run and second, unloading out of these small trailers. They are not set up the same as the big, long,  new ones. Not that I haven't pulled the small trailers, but this was the first time I had to operate everything on the truck side, they won't even touch the truck.  That's plant rules, probably insurance regulations, who knows, didn't ask, delved myself full into it.

But not without a call to the curmudgeon.  The grumpy old man I like to call him.   He goes around complaining about everything.  I swear I've seen him 5 times since I've started working here and all 5 times he was complaining. The worst was when he stormed into the manager's office  - I was sitting in the "break" room right there - and started complaining about new driver pay. This went on for fully 40 minutes.  He said "Take me off the call list!",  which is the short list Ann (manager) gave us new drivers to call people if we have questions. 

So when I saw Ann giving me the number for him last night -I was wanting to ask questions about these trailers, I'm not going into this without somebody filling me in on the nuances of how to operate everything,  I was like, huh?  I didn't say anything to Ann, she wouldn't have given me his number if he hadn't of agreed to it after the fact.  So I called, braced myself and - he's a really nice guy!  Knows  his shit too.  We talked until my phone battery ran out and I had to get off.  My main questions were about building pressure in the tank.

See, these places we go to, the truck tank has to be at a higher pressure than the facility's huge tanks - ranging in size from 40,000 gallons to a million so far.  You have to pump the product into  their tanks, not their tanks pumping product back into our tank.  On my way to the facility, I called him.  Umm, this is ben b, Ann gave me your number, do you have a moment to answer some questions? Is it cool that I called you?  Oh yes, he says, Ann told me you would be calling me today.  Alright, I thought, good start at least.  Not "don't call me" s***. lol People's attitudes amuse me, that's what I can say about that.  I watch people having hissy fits and melt downs and I find great entertainment in that.  Because, most of it is over petty bs.  I have to grant them that to them, it obviously isn't petty to them, but it is still entertaining to watch.  \

This is why I like going to malls on Christmas.  To watch the family meltdowns. Just sit on a bench, in a couple of minutes, you'll see and hear it lolol.  Well anyway, my main questions were about building pressure.  These coils are fickle about that.  If crank the valves around to many times, the ethylene will flood into the coils, freeze up and block the tubes.  What you want is a constant flow going throw there so the outside air can heat it up and turn the liquid into vapor, which goes into the tank (the coils are underneath the trailer), which pressurizes the tank.  I literally had no idea how many turns to turn both the vapor and the liquid valves feeding into and out of the coils. 

Well, this guy has been doing this for 20 years, he has some knowledge about it.  Like, expertise.  And he freely shared that expertise over the phone to the point that I was amazed that he was willing to go that far with it considering his words with Ann in that office.  But, his real issue was that he had been overlooked for the Safety Officer position that had opened up, but only because he didn't know about it, and only because he doesn't get on the internet.

How many people do you know that don't have smart phones or get on the internet? Well I can tell you there are at least half a dozen people working here that have never owned a smart phone or a computer in their entire lives.  They don't even have email accounts.  I don't really blame them. They aren't stupid people, they are down to earth people and hold very interesting conversations  I'm really not that sold on this internet stuff.  At least, not to the amount of time us humans are spending on it and taking away from the stuff we "used" to do to entertain, amuse, stimulate or otherwise console us, that was much more palpable, real life and had much more satisfaction at the end of the story.

Well, I arrived at this plant in Cameron, Louisiana, though it's not really that far into LA.  You travel over a bridge from the Texas side and there you are.  This place was strange. I expected a guard house at the entrance - and there was an elaborate one there for sure - shut down and not being used.  This is a multi billion dollar plant - with dirt roads lolol. I cracked up driving in there, asphalt ended abruptly and there it was, lovely, dirt roads.  I just drove until a got to a guard shack.  Uh, you are going to have to turn around and go into that gate right there.  Okay.  I turned around, got there and they told me, you are going to have to turn around and go back to that dude that told you to come in here and get a visitor pass from him. Note: I informed the first person I had never been in there before.

So, I go through the process of turning around again.  He's like: see that brown building down there? You need to go in there to get a pass. Okay.  I drive down there, park in a lot 500 feet away because that was the only place a truck would fit, walk there and this lady is pulling out.  "Do you need a badge"? Yes.  Well I"m leaving for the day. You'll have to go over there and get one from the security checkpoint.  Really? I've been to 3 people already and they don't have this shit down? 

But hey, I walked clear over there got inside and found a Keurig coffee machine! With boxes and boxes of unopened containers of the pods you put inside them.  I laughed it up with the guards, they offered me coffee before I even asked.  I love that Keurig coffee.  So, that was a high point for me for the day there. The simple pleasures of life.  I waited for about 20 minutes - watching armed security guards - yes they had pistols on their sides and Kevlor body armor on - walking around. Didn't bother me, I wasn't there to start trouble. 

Okay, I finally get to the unload place, bypassing a lot cause it's getting late and who wants to read all of that anyway . It was at that point - having to hook up the hose - remember, they won't even touch that truck - that I realized I didn't know a few more things that I needed help with. These people are looking at me like, have you ever done this before? Well yes, not that much but never with these trailers.  They didn't care.  I called the dude up again, asked him several questions, got my mind oriented and got busy.  Built the pressure up to 84 pounds - which is alot for these trailers - but that's what they wanted.  It's the pressure the pushes the product out of the trailer and into their system. 

After getting everything hooked up - and sighing a big breath of relief that I had actually gotten this old thing to work - we all stood around and chit chatted. I mean, there were 5 of them out there for this, doing absolutely nothing. Only one dude, quiet, reserved, knew his stuff, was interested in making sure the process was right, the rest of them were young dudes, full of testosterone, talking shit and well, I kind of got out of that.  I'm not really into that kind of talk. The "my penis is bigger than yours" kind of thing. 

A couple of hours later, the trailer was empty, blew down the pressure, I was out of there.  I was proud of myself, really, for doing something like that without anyone supervising me and being successful at it. But I did text Ann and told her that Gary - the other driver - had been a very big help and very grateful for it.  I believe in giving credit where credit is due. He definitely deserved some credit. I would have ended up freezing up the coil lines and having to try to figure out where to set the valve on my own.  That might have taken hours, to be honest, of hit and miss.  He gave me a baseline and it worked perfectly  They guy has been there 20 years, I figure if he wants to have a new position - now it's driver training - I can at least give him a boost for the fact that he perfectly described what needed to be done. 

So now, I'm at a hotel in Lufkin Texas.  I drove out my hours to get here.  It's like another hour and a half or so back up to the yard.  These trucking companies are big on keeping your hours legal, which is why they are in love with the new electronic logs. But, these rental trucks? No electronic logs in them. Don't know how they are going to adapt when it's a forced situation.  I also have curiosity to the greatly hyped driver-less trucks that are coming.  I figure this job is fairly secure for the time being.  Maybe not forever, but they don't currently have robots that can operate the truck side of unloading.  And my willingness to spend to weeks in hell up in Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts gave me the new options for sending me wherever.  There are runs that go for thousands of miles out there. I don't ask for anything, I'm the newbie, I let Ann decide what and where. But, she's totally fair and I figure if I'm willing to take the shit runs along with the gravy runs without even saying anything about it, that should help my situation.

As it stands, I'm well ahead of the other new drivers because none of them have unloaded trucks yet.  Their day is coming.  I can say that first time is pretty stressful.  Highly flammable, explosive, 130 below zero and if a tank did rupture, you better get out of there if you can because that stuff will suffocate you. But the other driver today related a story to me about a driver that had had a truck overturn.  He tried to outrun it, this driver was on the scene, ran him down and told him: you can't our run this stuff. If it blows up, you can't run far enough to get away from it blowing you up with it.  That's kind of a chilling effect, I guess, but at this point in my life?  I care, but I"m not phased by it.  I'm more interested in still getting the feel for curves and turns in a tanker - really would like to not roll one over, thanks.  THAT is where the trouble begins  Well, accidents too. 

Okay, well, I can see another late  night for me.  I am not going to apologize for staying up late after a 14 hour day.  I don't have to get up early, if I go to bed at midnight, I'll get up at 8. I can tell ya I am not setting the alarm and I'm turning off the ringer on my phone.

Dang, I just remembered. Got caught up on the stuff that happened in my face today. The text came: I am giving them 60 day notice.  My friends are moving back from Georgia, reclaiming their home and my other friends - the ones living with me, will have to find new accomodations.  So, she gave them the notice, I think I am going to go home tomorrow to a sad house. They like it there, we have a good situation....but they knew it was a 2 year deal.  I'm going to help them get into a new place, hopefully close by. They don't want to move far away if they don't have to.  There are houses for rent in town, just have to find a 3 bedroom with at least 2 baths.  Not impossible to find - but the extra bath costs a lot more, I am finding. 

Okay done with this one. Other things I want to do and then go to sleep.

So I get to Marriott Courtyard in Brownsville earlier.  I didn't ask for a high end hotel, at all. I just wanted  a bed to sleep on.  Remember that I am still driving a rental truck, that has no sleeper and therefore no bed.

I was sent down to Brownsville today. I reminded my manager last night of the need for a hotel. She said contact here wherever I ended up today (not sure why she didn't think I would end up down here) and she would get me a room.  So, 14 hours today.  It's not just driving. It's getting the truck loaded, getting on the road, 1/2 forced break, fuel, hills slowing the truck down, traffic in Houston. 

Oh!!!! I saw the most insane accident I have ever witnessed today!  This dude driving a very nice pickup - pulling what I guessed to be about a 25 foot long trailer.  Whatever caused the situation to start, I'm not sure.  It was just him in that accident, I think he hit the center concrete divider and that's what caused the trailer to shoot out sideways.  Whatever the cause, I watched this truck literally get booted up into the air, do an almost 380 degree turn - IN THE AIR - and the LAND ON HIS OWN TRAILER!!

I was coming from the other direction so I didn't stop.  But I did see the guy try to open the door to his pickup and then ? He slumped back on his seat and that was the last I saw of that.  I don't think he died, he just got messed up in being slung around like that.

Oh, well anyway. I mean, I drove all day long.  I got to the yard down here, dropped the trailer and then went over here to the Marriot.  Tractor only, I'll pick up the trailer in the yard in the morning.  Anyway, this dude behind the counter - really nice guy, not faulting him at all for this situation - looked up my name. Oh yes, I was talking to her earlier.  She said something about you having a CLC card?   I'm looking at him dumbfounded, I'm sure. What is a CLC card? It's a corporate card to make purchases.  Uhh, no, I don't have that.  My manager was supposed to take care of all of this.

I mean, I pushed it all day long to get to a hotel so I could get to a room and watch the entirety of the SOTU.  That's State of the Union Address - Trump.  After trying to call my manager numerous times and texting her, I gave up. Do you mind if I just go sit over there and have a beer or something? I really wanted to see the SOTU.  I gave up on that, but these people came behind me and set me down at a table at the lounge and walaah. This table had it's own 36 inch flatscreen tv, they turned the thing on and there was Trump, greeting people on his way in

So anyway, I wanted that beer.  There was a dude sitting up at the bar, alone, no one else around.  Is there anyone working here?  He smiled and said he could get me a beer if I wanted one.  Umm, he didn't look like a hotel worker, but what the heck.  About the time he was going to do it, the bartender showed up.  Well I started talking to this guy about politics since it was the SOTU and was all into that.  Well, I got up from there and went back to the table to watch the SOTU, he came over, uninvited, to watch it as well. Have a seat! No, he said, I 'like standing, I sit too much.

We talked back and forth for quite a while.  I was a little bit amazed to find out this cool, laid back dude, probably in his 30's, casual dress, was the CEO of whatever company, supplies custom tools to auto manufacturers to install certain parts into new vehicles that robots don't, apparently, do.  He never actually said who he was, he just went back behind the bar and helped himself enough times that I got the feeling he was more than he was coming off as. The encounter was interesting because he didn't come off as a rich "snoot". Just a laid back person.

Anyway, I never did get a hold of my manager, though I tried repeatedly, and finally just paid for the room myself. I was pretty disappointed that I was facing such a scenario yet again with this company, tho..  It's a $179 room, I asked because I considered just paying for it myself.  I was like, ohh. Well, the dude said he could bring the price down for me.  Why? I wondered.  Why were they giving me free food, beer and a lowered rate?  Well whatever, I didn't say that to them, I just was having fun, but inwardly, a but upset about all of this nonsense I have gone through with this company. They have good intentions, they just don't follow through, or, they simply don't have their act together.  I have jumped through numerous hoops for them, I would like to wish that they could at least get their act together. 

Well, I paid for the hotel.  I wasn't about to go looking for a place after working 14 hours and I had had a couple of beers, so totally illegal to drive a commercial vehicle even if only a tractor or the fact that it was only a couple of beers.  Not worth it. 

It was an hour and a half later my manager finally contacted me back. Texting. I had called her - several times.  Then I ended it with a text.  She got the situation resolved and I asked them at the desk, is this going back on my card? 

Welp. It's 11 pm.  I spent hours in that lobby.  I mean, I was starving and went back down there and asked this very energetic bar tender if she had any food. Why, sure! I have leftover stuff from the happy hour, would you like some? I made it myself! It's really good! Why yes!  She brought me a big plate of it, another beer and said no thanks for paying for it.  Ohhhhhkaaaayyyyy!!  I let her a nice cash tip after eating and drinking and here I am, in the room. 

I'm really trying to make this job work. But there have been so many negatives.  I think the worst part of it, for me, is that I"m in the 4th truck since starting here less than 3 months ago.  Obviously I'm not going to be staying in a rental truck and certainly not one without a sleeper and have to pay for a hotel every night.

Well whatever. Long day, tired, going to sleep.